There are currently in existence a number of switch-based services which must be accessed by subscribers off-hook by entering appropriate activation codes. These services include, for example, the Custom Local Access Signaling Services referred to by the acronym CLASS.sup.SM. For example, Automatic Callback (AC) is a CLASS outgoing call management feature which enables a customer encountering a busy station to perform an activation procedure and have call set-up performed automatically when the called station becomes idle. This feature is directed at customers who need to reach a party that is currently busy and provides the customer with an alternative to automatic redialers and manual, repetitive call attempts. By eliminating trunk, line and equipment seizures until. both parties are found idle, AC has been found to have a positive effect on network resources usage.
The CLASS Automatic Recall (AR) feature works in much the same way as CLASS AC. The main difference, however, is that the AR feature attempts to call a directory number associated with the most recent incoming call received by the customer as opposed to the most recent outgoing call.
Regardless of whether CLASS AC or CLASS AR is selected, or any other switch-based service, heretofore the method of initiation has been the same. Namely, the user must physically go off-hook and take active steps to request initiation of the desired switch-based service through entry of an access code. In fact, to even have an access code, the proposed user must generally be a subscriber to the service sought to be utilized and pay a flat rate fee on a monthly or other periodic basis. As a result, those skilled in the art will recognize that customer usage of such services has generally met with limited success and, in all cases, has not even approached capacity levels.
With the advent of the Advanced Intelligent Network, communications designers may now implement switch-based services directly in the AIN service logic and bypass existing switch-based services. Regrettably, this is a typical approach in the industry, i.e. to completely rewrite service logic to re-implement features which may already exist. This typical approach is both expensive and time-consuming and generally wasteful of existing resources which are available to be tapped.